Bringing Art to People and People to Art Big Car Collaborative Retrospective/Performance

Big Car celebrates its first 10 years and looks ahead to the future with two events on the south side of the city. The first, on Wednesday, Sept 10th is a free opening celebration for the group’s interactive retrospective exhibit, “No Brakes,” at the gallery in the University of Indianapolis Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Centeris a free opening celebration for the group’s interactive retrospective exhibit, “No Brakes,” at the gallery in the University of Indianapolis Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center,attendees can enjoy an eclectic variety of live performances highlighting happenings at Big Car’s spaces, featuring Beat Debris, Brandon Schaaf, Mannish Boy, El Cameron Electronico, Fluxus performances, poetry and more  — emcee’d by Michael Runge of Know No Stranger. The exhibit, which highlights Big Car’s past exhibits and projects via hands-on activities, images, artifacts, and videos on 10 monitors, is on view from Aug. 25 to Sept. 26. UIndy students taking a special art class — linked to the exhibit and taught by Big Car executive director Jim Walker — will help staff the space. 

 Following the exhibit and performances on Sept. 10, Big Car invites everyone to help support its future efforts and celebrate with the artists and performers from the showcase at The Alexander Hotel’s Market Table restaurant on the south end of Downtown. Tickets to the dinner — which includes live music, food, beer and wine, and a silkscreened keepsake for all attendees made on site — can be purchased at www.bigcar10.eventbrite.com.

The 10-year celebration comes at a time when Big Car prepares to open two new, connected art locations in an underutilized strip mall on the westside of the city. There, a sound-art space called Listen Hear and a community art venue called The Show Room in Lafayette Place replace the successful, three-year pop-up project, Service Center for Culture and Community. It closed in May after a for-profit business offered full rent for the space. Meanwhile, Big Car launches an artist residency at the former St. Patrick’s School in Fountain Square, looks to locate a home base in the Garfield Park area on the south side, and continues work on the Far Eastside with a gallery and creativity space located at Superior Market, 3702 N. Mitthoeffer Rd. And the National Endowment for the Arts recently granted $200,000 to a partnership between the City of Indianapolis and Big Car for programming on Monument Circle.